


Reflected in the River

by raininshadows



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Forgotten Hero | Marianne von Edmund's Paralogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/pseuds/raininshadows
Summary: Marianne fights her ancestor and breaks free of his legacy. Constance still has hers.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Constance von Nuvelle
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2020





	Reflected in the River

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rosage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosage/gifts).



Constance was the first person to land a spell on the Wandering Beast, and also the last. Marianne, trapped between her monstrous ancestor and what seemed to be every other Demonic Beast in the world, could only throw the occasional Nosferatu in between trying to dodge through the fog and trees to avoid being eaten, but Constance on her black pegasus kept swooping down to deliver another round of Sagittae before she ducked back out of range. 

Marianne could hear, but not see, Professor Byleth shouting orders to the rest of their class. The fog concealed everything too well. The strange noises of the forest had left her unsure what was real and what was her imagination before the rest of the group had gotten there, and it was only Constance’s appearances, keeping pace with the Wandering Beast, that told her she wasn’t just hearing things that weren’t there. 

Finally, as another arrow pierced the Wandering Beast’s hide, the beast collapsed. Constance’s pegasus dropped to the ground, and Constance was poised to scoop Marianne up onto the pegasus’s back when the beast began to speak. They both stood frozen for a long moment as the beast rasped its last words, then went still and collapsed to the ground, melting away to leave nothing but a human skeleton and a sword with a Crest Stone embedded in the grip. Although they were still surrounded by the sounds of their class battling the other Beasts, the moment of stillness seemed to draw itself out as Marianne knelt to pick up the sword. 

Then the sound of Bernadetta screaming in a nearby clearing broke the stillness. Constance pulled Marianne up onto her pegasus, Marianne still clutching the unsheathed sword. As the pegasus took off again, Marianne grabbed Constance’s waist with her free hand for stability. After fleeing the pack of Demonic Beasts lurking in the forest, even the momentary touch was something to appreciate. They darted over to where the professor was battling a giant wolf. “Professor, I’ve got Marianne!” Constance shouted, hovering out of range of the wolf’s massive jaws.

Byleth looked up and nodded sharply. They took a deep breath and bellowed “RETREAT!”, loudly enough to echo to all corners of the forest. Before more than a few minutes had passed, the entire group was flowing out to the less foggy, better-lit, more beast-free edge of the forest. While Marianne appreciated being away from the hordes of beasts, she also couldn’t help but notice Constance’s confidence and energy melting away as they emerged into the sunlight. When Constance’s pegasus touched down just outside the forest, Constance immediately jumped off and away from Marianne, breaking the contact they’d had during the brief trip. “My apologies for being the one to intervene,” Constance muttered, staring down at the ground. “I’m sure you could have handled that beast perfectly well on your own if I hadn’t distracted you.” 

Marianne felt a pang of recognition. Was this what she sounded like to other people? “No, I… thank you for helping me, Constance,” she said, trying to smile. “I couldn’t have done that on my own.” 

Constance looked up at her. “You don’t need to lie to make me feel better, Marianne,” she said before looking back down at the pegasus’s dark hair. 

Marianne was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by Caspar shouting from where the rest of the group was emerging from the forest. “Marianne, c’mere! That giant bird clawed up Bernadetta’s arm pretty bad and Linhardt’s busy dealing with Petra!” He had one arm wrapped around Bernadetta’s shoulders, seemingly holding her up.

Marianne turned towards the group, but before she began moving their way, she said quietly “I mean it, Constance. Thank you.” She didn’t hear Constance’s reply as she began jogging towards Bernadetta, who was clutching what looked like the shredded remains of her jacket against her forearm. 

It took Linhardt and Marianne a few hours to finish patching up everyone’s injuries, and by that point it was dark. Although it didn’t look like rain was coming, thick clouds were moving in, blocking the sun earlier than usual. The Professor declared that they’d be spending the night encamped on the edge of the forest instead of trying to navigate territory that only Marianne was even vaguely familiar with in the dark. After the hasty construction of tents, most of them opted to go straight to bed; it had been a pretty long day. Ferdinand had cheerfully volunteered to take the first watch, and when Marianne stepped out of her own tent, he was walking the rough perimiter of their campsite, humming something operatic-sounding quietly to himself. “Hello, Ferdinand,” Marianne said. “Do you know where Constance is?” 

“I believe I saw her with the animals,” Ferdinand said, pointing with his lance towards where their horses, pegasi, and wyverns were tied up for the night. Marianne had opted not to bring Dorte to confront the Wandering Beast, but there were plenty of other members of the group who fought mounted. 

“Thank you,” Marianne said, and set off in that direction. As expected, Constance came into view shortly; her blonde hair seemed to glow in the dim firelight, contrasting against the black hair of her pegasus. Constance was combing her pegasus’s mane, which had clearly been gone over plenty of times already. While the pegasus wasn’t protesting, Marianne could feel some exasperation coming from it. 

“Hello, Constance,” she said softly. 

Constance spun, nearly dropping the comb. “Hello, Marianne,” she said. “What brings you here at this time of night?” 

“I wanted to… talk to you,” Marianne said. “About the Beast.” She paused for a moment before deciding to just put it out there. “About my ancestor.”

Constance nodded slowly. “Maurice,” she said. “The forgotten hero, who became a monster and passed down a legacy of fear to his descendants.” The pegasus, seemingly realizing that the humans were done with it for now, went to go investigate some grass at the other end of its tether. 

“Yes,” Marianne said. She glanced down at the sword still hanging at her side. The Professor had been able to give her a sheath for it, but she wasn’t used to carrying physical weapons, so it still felt odd. “The… failed hero.” 

Constance laughed suddenly, the noise piercing the quiet of the camp. “Like Noa, isn’t it? My ancestor couldn’t actually succeed at her heroic goal either, so she went off to Fódlan’s Fangs to start the House. And she taught us to hide our Crests, too.” 

“That’s what I was trying to say,” Marianne said, reaching out gingerly to touch Constance’s hand. “I know you care a lot about resurrecting House Nuvelle and… fixing your family’s legacy. About proving that you’re worthy. And I was hoping I could maybe help with that, since I came out here to prove that I wasn’t… that my family wasn’t cursed.” 

Constance didn’t move away as Marianne took her hand. Suddenly much of Marianne’s attention was focused on that one point of contact. “You think we’re working towards similar goals,” Constance said. 

Marianne nodded.. 

Constance smiled suddenly, brighter than Marianne had ever seen outside Abyss. “I am always delighted to have help rebuilding House Nuvelle,” she said, bringing her other hand up to touch Marianne’s shoulder. “And I’ll be especially interested in your perspective, Marianne. Would you like to ride back together tomorrow? I’m sure Goendul can take your weight.”

The idea of spending the entire day next to Constance, discussing their Crests and their families, was almost overwhelming to Marianne, and she found herself nodding almost on instinct. “I would love that, Constance,” she said with more passion than she’d realized she had in her. 

Constance smiled. “It’s a date, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Sophie Ellis-Bextor's _The Deer and the Wolf_. Constance's pegasus Goendul is named after the Valkyrie [Göndul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ndul).


End file.
